Six local parolees serving life sentences

By Jordan Nicurity The Vernon Daily Courier http://www.dailycourier.ca/

A presentation to city council by Corrections Canada regarding a possible halfway house located in Vernon and the response it received from council made it clear that the two sides are far from agreeing on how to proceed with the issue. Brian Lang, a director of Community Corrections, briefly detailed the status and origin of the 15 parolees currently within Vernon city limits,
noting that it is believed that four of the 15 were residing in Vernon before their arrests. Lang also said six of the parolees were serving life sentences, though the average sentence was just over five years.

Numerous councillors said they would not be willing to proceed with any possible process until all reports of the inquiries into the murder of Bill Abramenko were made public, something that Corrections has said will not happen until the trial of Eric Fish, who is accused with the murder,
is complete. “If we don’t get a complete report as to how these parolees were posted here or monitored here, it’s just premature (to move ahead),” said Coun. Patrick Nicol, referring to both the Corrections and RCMP investigations. Coun. Juliette Cunningham went one step further and said that she didn’t believe that “we can go any further ahead until Mr. Fish has been to trial
and then we can move forward with a clean slate.”

Lang pointed out that perhaps the council was getting ahead of itself. “We’re criticized in the media for not engaging the public in a consultation process. We’re not talking about putting in a halfway house, we’re talking about getting public consultation. I have said before that we would not be able to support a halfway house if there was no support for it in the community.” Lisa Bayne, with Corrections Canada, said she hoped a summary of recommendations from the Corrections inquiry into the Abramenko murder could be made available to council within the next few weeks. “In the business of corrections, more structure equals more safety,” said Bayne, adding that there would be an emphasis on getting local Vernon parolees into the new halfway house. “We’re currently pushing people who should be in Vernon out. If there is support for them like a job or school, then they should be here,” said Lang, “We can talk to their employers and family and see how they are doing.” However, Lang noted that it is likely the possible 14 parolees that the halfway house would manage would be in addition to the 15 currently in Vernon.